Sadness vs. Depression

Daily Inspiration

I receive a lot of messages from people who ask a very similar question: What’s the difference between sadness and depression? I bet many of you have asked yourself this very question in the past. After all, we all feel sadness on occasion. However, depression is a totally different animal than ordinary sadness.

Sadness is a normal human emotional state that typically follows some kind of loss, separation or upsetting event. Depression, on the other hand, can often have no activating event at all, and is accompanied by a much deeper, darker and more intense sense of hopelessness, isolation and emotional pain. Even though sadness contains many of the same elements as depression, sadness is a feeling that passes as one begins to deal with the issue at hand. But depression can linger for months or even years.

I read an interesting quote about the difference between these two emotional states. In a TV interview in 2006 following the loss of her husband, Gloria Steinem said, “I realized that in depression, nothing matters. And in sadness, everything matters.” Well said, Gloria!

If in doubt, however, the only way to truly know if you are clinically depressed is to get a professional opinion. According to mental health experts, depression is characterized by having five or more of the following symptoms on a daily basis:

If you have these symptoms and think you may be suffering from depression, please make an appointment with your doctor or a therapist today. There is a way out of this darkness, but it can only begin with YOU taking action.

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